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Book Review: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (Daniel X #1) by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Summary:

The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells--the greatest power is the power to create. Daniel X has that power.

Daniel's secret abilities -- like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses -- have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone's imagining.

From the day that his parents were brutally murdered before of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer.

Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission--and to take vengeance in the process.

Review:

This was a really fast read. I sped through this one in about an hour and a half. It's 238 pages, but has 92 chapters; hence, a lot of blank page space. I've found this to be typical of James Patterson books and it kind of bugs me. I wish he'd make his chapters longer and include breaks in them like most authors do. Funny that his ghost writers, oh, excuse me, collaborators, don't make that change.

Anyway, back to The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. This was an fun, if juvenile read. It's probably better suited for 10-15 year old boys than a 29 year old woman, but I still liked it. This book reads like a Scott Westerfeld novel---a male protagonist with a lot of action and very little emotions/feelings. Daniel is an alien hunter and hunts and kills all sorts of really disgusting aliens. There's lots of goop and yucky stuff in this book. We have the traditional James Patterson plot twist about 2/3 of the way through, which I predicted but enjoyed all the same. The book gives us some closure, but the ending is open enough for the next book in the series.

Just One Gripe:

Don't read this while eating. Some of the alien descriptions will turn your stomach.

The Best Thing About This Book:

It's very original!

Appropriate for a younger audience:

Yes

As this is more of a children's book, I am scoring it against other children's books. A five star children's book is not equivalent to a five star adult book, in my opinion.

Score:

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Setting/Imagery: 5/5

Originality: 4/5

Ending: 5/5

Total Score: 24/25

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X was a 3 star book for me personally, but I am rating it against other children's lit and it deserves 5 stars for that genre.

2 comments:

I know! I was thinking he just does this for his thrillers so I pulled my copies of Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Sam's Letters to Jennifer and they are the same way. All those chapter breaks make the writing seem choppy to me. That is my only complaint about James Patterson though. Otherwise, I love his books. Although I do think that the books authored by him alone are better than the ones where he collaborates with other authors. Have you noticed a difference?